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Myrrh Dove Press Release

NASHVILLE, TN: Ten of Myrrh Records' 16 artists received Dove Award nominations recently as the Gospel Music Association announced finalists for the 31st Annual Dove Awards. Spanning a wide variety of musical genres, Myrrh Records 18 nominations covered the Urban, Inspirational, Instrumental and Spanish language categories, as well as the coveted categories of "Song of the Year," "Male Vocalist of the Year," "Female Vocalist of the Year," and "Songwriter of the Year," among others.

"As a label, we have not shied away from establishing a diverse roster - both artistically and culturally - our goal being unparalleled artistry within a wide border of creative freedom," says Jim Chaffee, vice president and general manager for Myrrh Records. "The expanse of these nominations - from Gospel to Urban to Spanish and Instrumental - is an encouraging acknowledgement of that vision. We are honored to be working with the level of artistic and spiritual integrity our artists represent, and we congratulate each of them on these nominations."

Leading the label with four nominations was singer/songwriter {{Fernando Ortega}}, who was nominated as both "Songwriter of the Year" and "Male Vocalist of the Year." In addition, the Christian Research Report's 1999 Inspirational Song of the Year, "Jesus, King of Angels," from Ortega's sophomore release, ==Breaking of the Dawn==, was recognized in both the "Song of the Year" and "Inspirational Recorded Song" of the year categories. The nomination announcements come just as Ortega is preparing for the February 29th release of his third project, ==Home==, and the launch of his first national headline tour, with special guest {{Margaret Becker}}, to commence in March.

Gospel music's reigning Female Vocalist of the Year, {{Jaci Velasquez}} was nominated in the category for the fourth time, while her GRAMMY nominated project ==Llegar a Ti== received a Dove Award nomination for "Spanish Language Album of the Year." Velasquez received additional nominations as part of Word Records' Streams and Benson Records' Bridges - Songs of Unity and Purpose projects, both nominated in the "Special Event Album" category.

Multiple Dove and Stellar Award winner {{Anointed}}, who also recently garnered its third Grammy nomination, received two nominations for this year's Dove Awards. "Anything is Possible," from the group's self-titled third project, was recognized in the "Urban Recorded Song" category, while the album Anointed received a nomination for "Contemporary Gospel Album" of the year.

Debut artist {{New Direction}}, introduced by Myrrh Records' Black Music Division last year, received nominations for their Gospel single "Lighthouse" as "Contemporary Gospel Recorded Song" of the year and New Direction as "Contemporary Gospel Album" of the year. The group recently received four Stellar Awards nominations, including "New Artist of the Year."

Myrrh artists {{Winans Phase 2}}, {{Phil Keaggy}} and {{Michael Card}} each garnered nominations, Winans Phase 2 for their hit single "It's Alright (Send Me)" in the "Urban Recorded Song" category, Keaggy for his seasonal release ==Majesty & Wonder== in the "Instrumental Album" category, and Card for ==Starkindler== in the "Inspirational Album" category.

In addition to Velasquez' nominations as part of the special project releases ==Streams== and ==Bridges== - Songs of Unity and Purpose, three other Myrrh Records artists were recognized in the "Special Event Album" category: {{Amy Grant}} for Streams, {{Shirley Caesar}} for The Prince of Egypt - Inspirational movie soundtrack, and {{Marvin Sapp}} for Bridges - Songs of Unity and Purpose.

The 31st Annual Dove Awards, hosted by Kathie Lee Gifford, will be held at Nashville's historic Grand Old Opry House on Thursday, April 20th, at 8:00pm (CDT). For more information, please visit www.doveawards.com.